​Michael DrezekI am the District Technology Integrator for Lake Shore Central. Prior to this, I taught Grade 8 Mathematics at Lake Shore Middle for 10 years. My new position has given me a new perspective on teaching and learning as I now work with teachers and students across all grade levels. Getting to work alongside fantastic educators in a collaborative role has led to incredible projects and experiences. I enjoy encouraging both teachers and students alike to step out of their comfort zones and try something new in the classroom. Helping teachers effectively integrate technology in the classroom to maximize student learning has become a passion of mine and I aim to spread this to as many people as I can on a daily basis.

Learning within Islands of Enlightenment is a powerful experience. Students are immediately engaged and this engagement is sustained throughout the project. It challenges students to think deeply about the content and also teaches them important transferable technology skills. This project was a hit with our students because it was highly social and interactive. Students were constantly interacting whether it was face-to-face or virtually. This offered an authentic opportunity to teach digital citizenship which I believe every educator plays a critical role. Islands of Enlightenment allowed our students to reach the highest level of the SAMR model for learning with technology and is a project that provides so many different creative possibilities one can adapt to specific learning goals. In surveying our students on their experience, their overwhelming positive feedback speaks volumes to the quality of Islands of Enlightenment.

Deann Poleon

This is my 16th year of teaching high school English. I have been teaching at Lake Shore Senior High for the past 12 years. For most of the years, I have been an English 9 teacher. I really enjoy teaching the Freshman level of high school. For the past two years, I have been working closely with the Technology Integration member of our Tech team in order to integrate technology experiences for students that are relevant and significant to their learning.

Working within Islands of Enlightenment has been an adventure for me and for my students. Each student was able to challenge him or herself with completing assignments, creating objects with notecards, exploring the worlds, and posting a presentation (related to the Holocaust) in the museum. There was a sense of competition in the classroom for who could do the most challenging object. Students were proud of their final products and presentations were fantastic!

Amanda ThompsonFor the past three years, I have been the seventh and eighth grade ELA teacher and eighth grade literature teacher at Saint Christopher School in Tonawanda. What has always attracted me to language and literature is the belief that social justice teaching can be accomplished while simultaneously deciphering a text and honing writing skills. The Anne Frank Project reflects this belief. The theme of our eighth grade literature class is Stand Up...Don’t Stand By and all of our texts are chosen around it; thus the work done with the Anne Frank Project has been a natural extension to our work in the classroom. Students have been completing the built-in assignments and are able to get a feel for the world and a baseline for the world in which Anne Frank lived, making this experience a necessary part of teaching the book. This past year has been even more fulfilling as students have completed assignments in-world that I have created to integrate with our reading and discussions of not only The Diary of Anne Frank, but also Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow.

Mary Jo SellersI am a middle school teacher at Sts Peter and Paul School in Hamburg, NY, having taught 6th-8th grade ELA and Literature as well as 6th grade Social Studies, Science and Religion for fifteen years. Additionally, I taught in the Lockport City and Williamsville Central School Districts for seven years, working with 9th-12 graders in ELA. I also have a background in Drama and have directed about 20 productions with middle school and high school casts.

I am excited about the Heir of the King Project because I view it as an opportunity for me to bring my teaching into the 21st century by incorporating technology that our students will find engaging and relevant. By learning new things myself, I feel that I will keep working toward

Professor Aikin-Avatar

Erica AikinMy name is Erica Aikin. I am presently the Head of Middle School, and Middle School Science/Social Studies teacher. I have been teaching at Southtowns Catholic School for the past three years. Before that I was a middle school Religion teacher, second and third grade teacher, middel school Reading teacher, and even a K-8 building Principal. My experiece/journey has lead me to a few different paths, and now I am very happy in my present position working with children and enriching their lives both academically and spiritually.My Education - Medaille College - Bachelorsof Science in Elementary EducationCanisius College - Masters Degree inAdministration and Supervision New York State Permanently Certified in both areas

Mary HowardI am a sixth grade teacher at Veronica E. Connor Middle School in Grand Island, New York. My subject areas are English Language Arts as well as Social Studies. I have been teaching for 10 years and absolutely LOVE sixth grade. My strengths are creativity and integrating technology. I've been very lucky to have been able to present throughout New York State on technology integration in the classroom. My blog, yoursmarticles.blogspot.com has been visited over 400,000 times and in it I share ideas, resources, and other technology related classroom projects.

Becky MoeI have been teaching junior high ELA and social studies for the past ten years at a private elementary school in WNY. Before that, I had a brief stint as a preschool teacher. I'm thrilled to be a part of the Islands of Enlightenment project--education is changing daily, and I believe that this program provides an excellent way to combine education with the latest in technology.

Jill PallanteHi! I am Jill Pallante. I am a teacher at Saints Peter and Paul School in Hamburg, NY. I teach middle school ELA and literature. This is my 12th year at SSPP, before that I worked in a middle school outside of Chicago in Carpentersville, IL. I was there for 5 years substituting, then long-term substitituting, and then as a 7th grade ELA teacher. My long term teaching goals are to continue incorporating technology into my curriculum to make learning more engaging and relevant to my students, to instill a love of lifetime reading and writing in my students, and to survive the various state mandates that sometimes seem contradictory to my desire to have students love reading and writing. As I always tell everyone, I was "volunteered" for the Islands of Enlightenment, and I had no idea what to expect when I arrived for my first day of training. I left that day, super excited about everything I learned, and I have been ever since. My 8th graders and I worked through the Anne Frank assignments for the first year, and I was learning right along with them as we went. Everyone was very engaged, and ended up learning about Anne Frank and virtual environments. For the second year, my 7th and 8th graders will both complete the Anne Frank and Heir of the King islands. I have added some things to the assignment directions this year (rubrics, etc) from my learning experience last year. I highly recomment everyone to set aside his/her comfort level of teaching and try something new. The rewards will always out weight the discomfort.